House project have been sucking up a huge amount of time lately. The
house is undergoing a major remodeling effort. I'm tried of dealing with
the house tasks (buying bathroom fixtures, picking out bathroom tile,
dealing with not having a functioning kitchen since Thanksgiving, etc.)
and I really, REALLY needed a change. I travelling to Tennessee for
Thanksgiving because of house issues. This year I'm in town for
Christmas and New Years. I asked Steve if he'd be interested in going up
to Canada for a birding trip since I am having trouble locating most of
my hiking gear. He was interested...thankfully.

We got an early start on the drive north. It's only about a 2 hour drive
to the border and the crossing was a breeze. By mid morning we pulled up
into the parking lot of Reifel and found clear blue skies and really
cold temps. We bundled up, sorted out camera gear, paid our entrance fee
(CA$5.00), and started our walk around the refuge. Steve had fun taking
photos right inside the entrance of all the mallards. We did the
perimeter walk along the dikes counterclockwise and then did the
interior dike hike.

Lots of birds about...sandhill cranes, one owl aloft (though through the
trees and since it was moving I couldn't tell what kind), wrens,
chickadees, mallards, northern shovelers, coots, wood ducks, etc). It
felt nice to just get out and walk around.

About 2:00pm we decided it was time to head over to the dike trail at
Boundary Bay. I was hoping the snowy owls would be about. It has been 5
years since I've been out to the area and couldn't remember the exact
turnoff but on the third try we found the right road (I need to remember
it is next to the golf course next time). No snowy owls but lots and
lots and LOTS of bald eagles.

We stopped in Bellingham on the way home and had dinner at the Boundary
Bay Brewery. Great place!